Uusimaa

Uusimaa or Nyland is a region in Finland. It borders the regions Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper, Päijänne Tavastia and Kymenlaakso. Helsinki, Finland’s capital and largest city, along with Finland's second largest city Espoo and its fourth largest city Vantaa are all located centrally in Uusimaa, making it by far the most populous region.HistoryIn ancient times coastal Uusimaa had been populated by Sami people. The place name of Nuuksio derives from Sami word njukča which means Swan. Later Finns proper and Tavastians inhabitet the area. Some place names have traces of Tavastian village names, like Konala which likely derives from older Tavastian village name Konhola. Also estonians were inhabiting the region in a smaller extent and using it in seasonal fishing.Swedish colonisation of coastal Uusimaa started together with the second crusade to Finland in 13th century. The colonisation was part of converting pagan areas to catholic faith. Eastern Uusimaa had its first christian Swedish colonists earlier than the western Uusimaa which got its colonists in one mass transfer of people to Porvoo area probably in the 14th century. The colonisation was supported by the kingdom of Sweden and the immigrants where provided with grain seeds and cattle. They also got four year tax exemption from the crown. All the Swedish placenames of Uusimaa date back to this period.